EASTON, Pa. -- A former gas station manager accused of stealing $180,000 from the station's ATM admitted that he took money from the machine -- but said he put it into the cash register because he was under pressure from his supervisor to make more money.
According to a report in the Express-Times, prosecutors say 25-year-old Eric Hess took the money from the Exxon station's ATM from August 1999 to April 2001.
Hess testifed on June 3 that he was responsible for stocking the ATM with money from the cash register. He said he started putting the money from the ATM back into the till so it appeared as if the store's revenues were rising.
He said his supervisor had threatened to fire him, saying, "If things don't turn around, it would be my job before his."
Prosecutors said Hess spent $30,000 on jewelry and $9,000 on flowers during the period when the $180,000 allegedly disappeared. Assistant District Attorney Roy Manwaring said the large expenditures suggest Hess was stealing from his job.
However, Hess's sister and two in-laws testified that they asked Hess to buy jewelry on their behalf so their spouses wouldn't see the expenditures on their credit card bills. They said Hess would buy jewelry and they would reimburse him in cash.
Hess' mother, Debra Hess, testified that her children, including Eric, sent her and her husband on a trip to Hawaii during the period Eric Hess was allegedly stealing from the gas station.
She said that her son has lived at home his whole life and puts all of his pay into a lock box he keeps under his bed. She estimates he has saved $15,000 to $18,000.
Eric Hess said cash register receipts can prove he put money back into the cash register because he rang up bogus sales each time he restocked the register with cash. Hess said the gas station owners either can't find the receipts or don't want to find them because they would rather blame him for the missing money.
